Into The West
by WeBuiltThePyramids
Summary: Set sometime in the first year after the film. When tragedy strikes some folks passing through town, Anna becomes determined to prevent a young girl's life from being decided for her. Albert/Anna, Eddie/Ruth (Please read Author's Note.) Rating will become M.
1. Chapter 1

**I know this is a rather long A/N, but please read all of it.**

**I've wanted to write A Million Ways To Die In The West fic for a while, but was always struggling with a plot, one that would fit the setting and the characters. I've finally come up with something.**

**Warning: this fic will be changed to an "M" rating with the next chapter, so if you want to keep track of it, either put it on alert or be checking the M filter. The reason it will be rated M will be for cursing and for other adult/sensitive content. There will be multiple references to Anna's past. These references are dark, but shouldn't come as a shock to anyone who has seen the movie.**

**Also: I am going to use the term "Indians" to refer to Native Americans. I am aware that many object to the term, and I personally use "Native Americans." However, they were repeatedly referred to as "Indians" in the movie, and that is now the Native Americans were referred to in the time period that the movie takes place in, so I will call them "Indians" here.**

**This fic takes place at some point in the first year after the movie, after Albert and Anna married.**

* * *

Anna leaned forward as she'd seen the Indians do, urging Hickok to lessen the distance between them and the other pair. "C'mon!" she shouted at the horse. He flattened his ears and stretched out his neck, but failed to make up the distance before they streaked across the train tracks, the pre-determined finish line.

"Ah ha!" Albert said triumphantly, pulling Curtis to a walk. "Look who's the winner!"

"Your horse likes you better than mine," Anna protested.

"Your horse is carrying less weight," Albert said.

"Whatever," Anna said, laughing. "We'll get you next time. Actually," she said as an afterthought, "I feel a little bit bad for Curtis."

"Why's that?"

"The only reason you won is because every time you let him run these days he thinks he's being pursued by a band of outlaws."

"He's a frontier horse," Albert said, "assumptions like that are good for him." He smiled over at her. "I'm glad we did this. I needed to clear my head. We're absolutely suffocating in sheep."

"It's good, though," Anna said. "Not having to worry about money."

"No, no, no, you're absolutely right," Albert said. "Gives me more time to focus on rattlesnakes, Indians, wild animals, dehydration, and dozens of various illnesses."

"And the whole sheep suffocation thing."

"And the whole sheep suffocation thing." Albert nodded. "Speaking of which, we should probably get back."

"Yeah, alright," Anna said in a tone of voice that suggested she knew Albert was right, but at the same time didn't want to get back to reality. "I can help you sheer this afternoon. Then we can get into town before it gets dark."

* * *

Leaving Curtis and Hickok tied to a post, Albert and Anna walked down the street, Plugger trotting along next to them. "You wanna see if we can find Ruth and Eddie?" Anna asked.

"Ruth just finished up at work," said Emmett Laramie, one of her regulars. "She and Eddie were going to get some food, I think. Though he brought her some pretty snapdragons, so they might have gone right back to their room." Laramie pointed to the man standing a hundred feet farther away, Silas McCoy. "New guy might know. He was talkin' to Eddie earlier."

"I think they did go to get food," McCoy called. "Ruth's had a long day."

"Thanks," Albert said hesitantly as he and Anna continued to walk toward him – Ruth and Eddie would be farther down the street. "Plugger, come on." The dog enthusiastically ran in circles around them. Anna grinned with amusement at Albert's taller, more purposeful posture as they approached McCoy. He was suspicious of everyone coming through town, and most of them picked up on that rather quickly. He noticed her expression and tried to put on a friendly façade.

"Heard two more miners died today," McCoy said as they passed. "Poor old farts."

"Doesn't surprise me," Albert said. "I appreciate the pun, though."

"_What_?" the man snapped, taking a sharp step forward. His intimidation tactic worked. Albert jumped behind Anna.

Her playful laugh at his sharp movement was cut off by a loud, sharp, explosive sound in the distance. All around her were men and women shrieking, reacting, jumping toward the nearest building. She felt herself falling before Albert's words – _hit the deck! _– registered in her ears, then felt him land on top of her, his hand on the back of her head, keeping her from raising it.

After a few moments, the town began to calm, becoming more curious than afraid. Albert sat up next to Anna, and she rose to a sitting position herself, brushing the dirt off her face. "Albert, what was that?"

"I don't know, it…it sounded like…like dynamite, or a bunch of guns, or…"

"No," she said, giggling slightly. "What was with pinning me? That sound was easily a mile away."

"Oh, you think this is funny?" he said, trying to look stern. "I was trying to save your life, you think that's fun…I'm sorry, I can't do it," he said, breaking his façade and laughing. They grinned at each other for a moment, then Albert's face grew solemn again. "Seriously, _what was that_?"

"I don't..." Anna looked where he was looking, in the direction of the sound, seeing a big, black cloud of smoke off in the distance. "Holy..."

* * *

**Please review and let me know what you think! This is my first shot writing for this fandom and I find it so hard to get Albert and Anna's bantering, laughing relationship down, partly because it was so well written and partly because I like it so much! Figured this movie deserves more fic, though, so I'm giving it a shot!**


	2. Chapter 2

**First of all, oh my gosh, THANK YOU to everyone that reviewed the first chapter! I am so beyond happy that all of you like it! Hopefully this chapter won't disappoint, please keep letting me know what you think!**

* * *

"Shouldn't someone go check that out?" Albert said out loud, moments before several men on horseback thundered by in the direction of the smoke. "Ah, yes, you guys go ahead!" he shouted after them. "We'll wait here." He looked at Anna. "You _are_ gonna wait here, right?"

Both of them jumped again at the shouts from the edge of town. "Fire! Fire!"

"Oh, shit," Anna said. "There's a fire?"

"_How is there enough grass for a fucking fire?_" Albert shouted at the same time. Anna grabbed his arm and ran toward the gathering crowd. There was so much confusion, so many people desperate for information, that it took a good quarter of an hour before Albert and Anna located one of their friends.

"Ruth! _Ruth_!" Anna screamed, noticing the dark haired woman in the crowd. Ruth turned around, waving her arms wildly.

"Oh my gosh, are you guys okay?" she asked as Anna and Albert approached.

"Where's Eddie?" Anna asked as Ruth threw her arms around her.

The older woman pointed in the direction of the smoke. "The pastor grabbed him. We were close to him when whatever happened happened, and he told all men within earshot to come with him to investigate."

"No no no," Albert said. "No way Eddie gets to die in something crazy like this. When I go it's going to be embarrassing, getting bit on the ass by a snake or something. Not playing the hero in some town – threatening fire. If any of us were to die that way, let's be honest," he gestured toward Anna. "It'd be her."

"Oh, he's not going to die," Ruth said. "He knows better than to die before he marries me."

"Someone is coming back!" shouted McCoy from the far edge of the crowd.

"It's Eddie! It's Eddie!" Millie shouted from in front of Ruth, jumping up and down to get a better view.

As Edward approached, the crowd caved in around him, shouting questions.

"He can't tell us what's going on with you all yellerin' at him!" Jack McMann snapped at Laramie.

"Yellering?" Albert said. "Yellering?" He repeated, looking at Anna. She shrugged, more interested in information than Albert's need to be a Grammar Napoleon.

"They sent me back as a mess...messenger," Edward panted. "Okay, so it looks like there was some sort of raid. Three...three wagons. There was fire, and, and dynamite, and some sort of weird explosive device...we couldn't tell. And oh..." he bent, hands on his knees, as if trying to prevent himself from gagging. "Oh, there's bodies."

"How many?" Millie asked.

"Half dozen, at least, that I could see. Mixture of blacks and whites. One was shot, twenty feet at least from the wreckage. There's hoof prints leading away. Out...outlaws," Eddie gasped. "Must have been."

"Is the fire under control?" shouted Thornton.

"Stop yellering in my ear!" McMann screamed at the entertainer, his face red.

"Okay seriously, what even _is_ that?" Albert said, putting his hands out in exasperation. "Who taught this guy how to talk?"

"Shut up, Stark!" McCoy said, whirling around. "That ain't not what's important right now!"

"Oh boy, see, under normal circumstances...I'm just...I'm not going to touch that," Albert said, hands up in front of him.

"Maybe you ain't!" McCoy snapped, pushing his way through the crowd and swinging a fist. His knuckles made contact with the side of Albert's face, and the sheep farmer found himself hitting the ground for the second time of the night.

Within ten seconds, everyone was fighting, everything not too heavy or tied down was flying through the air. Ruth and Anna grabbed Albert and dragged him a short distance away.

"You alright," Anna asked, touching his face gently.

"_Ah_!" Albert recoiled, putting a hand up to block hers.

"Dude, is your face broken?" Edward said as he walked up.

"I'll get back to you on that," Albert groaned, sitting up and shaking his head gently. "I didn't even do anything."

"You antagonized a bigass drunk cowboy," Ruth said.

"Nevermind that, Eddie, what the _fuck_ were you doing going out with them?" Albert asked.

Edward gave an embarrassed smile. "I know, right? I mean, I figured if anyone of us were to die doing something brave it'd be Anna."

"I'm glad everyone's on the same page," Anna said with a smirk.

"But seriously, Albert, you okay?" Edward asked.

"I'll live. I've been shot, knocked out by Indians, fell off things. And you hit me that one time."

"Okay, that was not even all that hard and..."

"Guys."

The other three stopped and looked at Ruth, who had risen to her feet. "What is it, honey?" Eddie asked. Ruth pointed.

The remaining men who had gone to investigate the smoke were returning. One of them, Pastor Wilson, was not on his horse, but rather leading the animal by its reins. In the saddle was a little girl, African American, not more than ten years old. Her clothes were covered in soot.

"Oh my God," Anna said, standing up herself and walking a step forward and to the left to stand next to Ruth. "Someone survived."


	3. Chapter 3

The group gathered in the church, including some folks, like Louise, who hadn't heard the ruckus and were awakened by other residents of the town. All stood alertly as Pastor Wilson and the child stood at the front of the room. The girl had a singed stuffed animal in her hand. She did not make eye contact with anyone.

"As some of you may know," the pastor said, "the smoke and sounds many of us saw a bit earlier today was from an explosion and a fire, the origin of which is unknown,that burned three stage coaches a few miles outside of town. Quite rapidly, in fact. We suspect men up t'no good. This girl," he pushed her in front of him, "says that there were eleven with her, none of which survived."

A murmur went through the crowd. The girl's eyes were wide with fear, and she clutched the half burned toy rabbit to her chest.

"What will be done with her?" Millie shouted.

"For the night, we will turn her over to the sheriff," Wilson told her. "As he is investigating the incident. What will be done with her will be decided in the coming days."

"I can take care of her," said Silas McCoy from the back of the room.

The gathering turned to look at him. "You?" said Ruth.

"Sure," he said. "I got the most money in this piss poor town."

Wilson looked slightly uncomfortable at the new man trying to dictate. "We aren't going to be making any decisions tonight. She'll stay in the jail..."

"The jail?" said Louise. "That's not a place for a little girl."

"It's the only way we can keep her safe," said the pastor. "We don't know what happened to her people. Someone might come after her. The cell is the safest place in town, and it's only for a night. Tomorrow when we clear out Campbell's shit from the inn we can put her up in there."

Albert, still processing the pastor's plan, noticed Anna shaking her head.

"She'd be safe with me," McCoy said. "Ain't no one but Clinch Leatherwood ever gave me any trouble with a gun."

"You seem awful pushy, McCoy," said Jack McMann. "You think your gun skills can keep her safer than the jail?"

"My place _ain't_ no _jail_!" McCoy said, speaking the last word as if it were a slur.

"Shut up," Wilson said loudly. "She's staying in the jail tonight. Tomorrow we can re-evaluate the situation. Determine who makes her decisions for her. Not tonight. We as a town need to think things over." He looked out over the now silent crowd. "Disperse everyone. No need to keep staring at her. She's been through enough today."

Ruth and Millie exchanged shrugs. "I suppose we'll see you all tomorrow," Eddie said as Ruth motioned for him. "I sure hope no outlaws are going to come looking for that girl. We've had enough excitement in this town this year."

"What would outlaws want with a child?" Albert said.

Edward shrugged. "Fair point. Still, you know some of them men out there will stir up trouble just to watch us shake."

Anna was shaking her head again, but she marched forward, leading the other three outside, not giving any of them the option of asking her what she felt so strongly about.

* * *

"You want to tell me what's bothering you?" Albert said, sitting down at the table across from his wife. "I know something is. You have that look in your eyes."

Anna folded her hands on the table. "Albert, we have to take her in."

He'd been expecting her to tell him what was getting to her eventually, but the fact that she hadn't at first denied she was upset threw him for a loop. "Take her in? The girl?"

"Yeah." Anna was staring at her hands.

"You mean for the night or..."

"I mean indefinitely."

It took him a moment to realize what she was suggesting. "Anna," Albert said slowly, "this is the frontier. It's statistically a miracle that we've managed to keep _Plugger_ alive, how are we going to take care of a kid?"

"If we don't," Anna said, "they'll end up releasing her to McCoy, or McCann, or some other gunslinger with means. With the sheep, we have the most money of anyone in town other than some of the men." She swallowed hard. "She's young, she's pretty. She's not old enough to make her own decisions and she's not old enough to protect herself. It's hard enough for white men out here, Albert. It's ten times harder for white women, and for that little girl? She has no shot to be treated well with any of those men."

Her eyes were locked on Albert's, wanting him to understand, practically pleading with him that he do so. And he did.

Anna had been married off before she was ten to a man twenty five years older than her. She'd spent twelve years with a ruthless killer who treated her as property, and who regarded her as dispensable. Anna was smart and resourceful, and it was why she survived her marriage.

"She can say she doesn't want to," Albert said. "You _wanted_ to be married, didn't you? The whole spinster thing?"

"Societal pressure, where I came from," Anna said, treating her words as a complete thought. After a long silence, she continued, "I was under pressure to find a husband, and I had no one looking out for me. My parents, I love them, and they loved me, but we were poor; marrying was the only way to elevate my status and Clinch seemed like the best option. I consented without knowing what it was I was consenting to. And that man stole my innocence and my youth and left me black and blue more times than I can count. And I was one of the lucky ones," she pointed out as Albert lowered his head. "I'll be damned if I let that little girl be fucked over by this shit council that Wilson is going to throw together. They won't want to be bothered with her. They'll all agree to let her go with McCoy. But they might let us take her."

Albert shook his head. He hated hearing about Anna's marriage to Clinch. He knew his wife's first marriage had been full of physical and emotional abuse, and he hated that she'd had to spend half her life with the notorious gunman.

"Don't," Anna said.

He raised his head. "What?"

"I know what you're thinking. Don't make this about me. I survived. I found happiness. My future is as bright as it can be in this place. This is about _her_. I had no one to help me, and instead of crying over what can't be helped, we need to try and save another child from suffering the same fate. There's no guarantee of her ever escaping it should she fall into bad care now."

Albert nodded. "Okay," he said. "Okay. Let's head down there first thing in the morning."

Anna smiled. "Thank you." Albert nodded, unsure of how else to react, and got up to hang his hat. She rose as well, meeting him by the door and curling her arms around him. "We're going to protect her, Albert," she said, sounding happy. She adjusted her arms as he slid his around her, tucking her chin into his shoulder. Albert loved holding her. When they were like this, even when layers of clothes were between them, it was near impossible for him to determine where he ended and she began. Yes, they were unprepared to take responsibility of another human being. But in a world where nothing was ideal, that didn't mean they weren't the girl's best chance.

**I am going to try and update once more before I go to see my grandparents, but I can't promise anything. Please let me know what you thought in a review, I love getting them!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed so far!**

* * *

Albert and Anna were almost always awake before dawn, but on Saturdays they normally allowed themselves to sleep in, let the sun creep in the window in their bedroom and land on their faces, let themselves wake up naturally if Plugger's enthusiasm for a new day didn't rouse them first.

On this particular Saturday, Anna was pulling Albert out of bed by the arm before the sun was up. "Hey, hey!" he protested, trying to shake off the sleep and get his feet under him.

"Come on old man," Anna teased, grinning. "We have to go to town!"

Blinking, Albert noticed that not only was she dressed, her hair was braided and twisted into a knot at the nape of her neck. She had been up for a while already. "I'm awake," he grumbled, trying to find his pants.

"Everything's on the back of the chair," Anna said. "Shoes included. Now I let you sleep but now you gotta come with me."

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Albert protested, hurriedly getting dressed.

Anna threw his hat at him as she left the house, both of them nearly tripping over a very happy Plugger as he raced around their feet, barking.

* * *

"You two sure that you want to do this?" the sheriff asked, glancing at the mayor and blowing smoke out of his mouth..

"This jail isn't a place for a little girl," Anna said. "She's got some childhood left and it'll go away in a New York Minute in this place."

"In a what?" Albert asked.

Anna shrugged. "You know, cities, fast pace..." she shrugged. "It'll catch on, trust me."

"Look, you want the girl, you can have the girl, at least for now," said the mayor. "We have to decide what to do with her and that's sure to take a little while."

"We want the girl," Albert affirmed.

"Alright," the mayor said, gesturing to the sheriff. "Take them inside. I'll be down at the saloon."

The sheriff dropped his cigarette to the dirt and ground his heel into it. "Come on."

Anna, Albert behind her, followed the sheriff into the jail. They could see into the cell, but it took them a moment to spot the girl. She was curled up in the black corner, her rabbit against her chest. She was sucking her thumb, a habit she appeared too old for. Anna wondered if she was doing it because of fear or stress.

"Got some folks here to see you," the sheriff said, standing awkwardly at the door of the cell after unlocking it, as if he was trying to make her more comfortable but had no experience that would help him do so.

The girl stood up, uneasily brushing the dirt off her dress. The sheriff stood to the side, letting Anna through.

"Hi there, sweetie," Anna said quietly, approaching the girl. She stopped advancing when the girl took a tiny step back, now pressed against the back wall. "My name is Anna," she said, crouching down. "This is my husband, Albert," she said, gesturing with her head toward where he stood, just outside the cell. "What's your name?"

The girl looked down, turning the rabbit over in her hands. "Kace." She slid down the wall into a sitting position, her knees up to her chest.

"That's pretty," Anna said. "Is it short for anything?"

"Kace Campbell."

Anna smiled. "Kace is a really pretty name." Her eyes settled on the toy that Kace held tightly in her hands. "That's a very sweet looking bunny. Does he have a name?"

"Ears."

"May I see him?" Kace's eyes went wild. "It's okay, you keep him," Anna said, back tracking. "Do you like animals, Kace?"

She nodded. "All kinds of animals."

"You _know_," Anna said as if the thought had just entered her mind, "Albert and I, we've got a lot of animals. Sheep, even some little ones, and horses, a cow." She raised her eyebrows. "And windows without bars on them!" She looked around the jail cell. "If you ask me, this little place isn't anywhere for a girl to stay, wouldn't you agree, sheriff?"

He cleared his throat, unhappy with how Anna was going about it, but under an obligation to agree. "I'd say your place might be more ideal."

"Would you like to come home to me and Albert?" Anna asked. "Just for a while, and just if you'd like."

Kace looked at Albert and Anna, eyes flashing between both. Finally she nodded. "Okay."

"Alright," Anna said, smiling. "Come with us."

The girl nodded, quietly following Anna out of the cell. Albert followed awkwardly, unsure of how to contribute. Kace was nervous enough around Anna – he knew if he tried to say anything he'd only make things worse.

It was better if he remained silent.

"Albert, why don't you tell Kace about the farm?"

Clearly Anna disagreed.

"Well, it's...it's a bit out of the way. We have a two bedroom house, hundreds of sheep, and the two horses, Curtis and Hickok...oh, and sometimes we have a sheep on the roof, so that'll be exciting for you."

"Can you ride the horses?" Kace wanted to know, looking up at him eagerly.

"Well, yeah," Albert said. "It's how we get around. You don't want to walk to town from my place, your feet will blister up and feel like they're on fire."

Anna raised an eyebrow at his word choice. "Oh, oh _shit_," Albert said. "I mean they...they hurt. They hurt like a motherfucker."

"You guys are going to be such great parents," the sheriff said, lighting a cigar.

"Alright, I'm detecting a bit of sarcasm in your tone, and I just really don't appreci-" Albert was cut off by Anna pulling him away by the arm.


	5. Chapter 5

**Apologies for the delay in updating! I hope they will be more frequent now!**

"This is your house?" Kace asked, walking slowly toward the massive flock that surrounded the cabin.

"Yup," Anna said. "It looks small because of all the sheep. It is small, really, but it's big enough. You'll even have your own room!"

Kace looked at Anna with sad sympathy, which the woman didn't understand. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." She squeezed Ears. "Are the sheep nice?"

"They're friendly, don't worry," Albert said.

"There's one on the roof."

"That's my favorite one," Anna said. "You can meet her later. Her name is Bridget." She put her hands on the girl's shoulders. "Let's just get you inside. The sheep will move over for us."

"And if not, just push them," Albert said. "Some of them can act like real entitled bastards."

"Albert," Anna said sharply.

"I know all the words," Kace said. "My mama called my daddy Fowler because he talked bad."

"There's a lot of Fowlers around here then," Albert said. "Come on, it's hot as balls out here, you guys go inside while I check the sheep."

* * *

"Here's your room," Anna said. "It used to be Albert's room."

Kace looked upset again. "I'm sorry."

"No, no," Anna said. "He doesn't need it anymore. I know it is small and simple, but it's got a bed, and a dresser, and a rug."

"Thank you," Kace said, still standing in the doorway.

"I will make you some new clothes," Anna said. "For tonight you'll have to make do with what you have on. The outhouse is just in the back."

"I'm very tired," Kace said. "I don't think I have been asleep since the day before yesterday."

"Would you like to take a nap?" Anna asked. "We'll wake you for dinner."

Kace smiled. "Yes. Thank you, ma'am."

"Call me Anna."

"Oh, I couldn't."

Anna knew better than to argue the point. "Well, if you ever care to, I wouldn't mind. Neither would Albert."

"If I called him Anna?"

Anna was pleased at the way the corner of the girl's mouth turned up. "Especially if you called him Anna," she said with a wink.

"Did you lose track of her already?" Albert joked as Anna came to the living room.

"She's exhausted," Anna said. "I know what it's like to go days without sleep, it's rough, especially at her age." She sat down in the chair next to Albert's. "We're doing a good thing here, Sheep Boy. She needs to be in someone's home."

"Yeah we are," Albert said. "You are. I would have just ranted to Eddie and Ruth about how shitty this town is at decision making."

Anna smiled, but it was gone as quickly as it came, and she cocked her head. "Did you think it was weird that she kept looking upset whenever I mentioned the spare room? It was weird, right?"

"Actually, I think I know why," Albert said.

"Really?"

"In poor areas like this, you don't have spare rooms. If you do, you rent them out. Kids never get their own room unless they don't have any brothers or sisters. We're a married couple with a spare room. She probably thinks that we weren't always childless. When you said it used to be my old room, she probably thought you meant our son's."

Anna was silent. "I cannot believe I didn't think of that. I had my own room because my two older sisters died before I was born."

"I didn't know that about you."

"I didn't know it about me until I was eight." Anna tapped her fingers against the chair. "I suppose I'd better get to sewing her a dress."

"With what?"

Anna opened the old closet, the doors protesting with a loud creak, and pulled out a massive green and white dress. "I swore on my life I was never going to put this thing on again, maybe it's time to regift."

"_No_," Albert said in playful protest. "Not the simulated fat ass!"

"It's quality material," Anna said, sitting down again with the material billowing over her lap. "Now I'm sure I can..." she turned the dress over. "Maybe if I..."

Albert raised his eyebrows in amusement at her sudden lack of confidence. "Have you ever done this before?" He asked. "Because I'm pretty sure I was more comfortable rolling my first cigarette."

"You shut up," Anna said. "It has been a while, is all. I'll get the hang of it again."

"Alright," Albert said, still grinning.

"You wanna make the dress?" Anna asked. Albert cleared his throat and rapidly moved his head back and forth. Anna gave a small smile. "That's what I thought."

**Hope you all enjoyed it! Please leave a review, I live for those things! :) Also, my YouTube name is the same as my Fanfiction name, and I have one Albert/Anna fanvid on there already, and I'm working on a second, so feel free to watch and subscribe! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Apologies to readers for the delay in updating, but I've got one for you now!**

* * *

"Albert. Where is Kace?"

"I thought she was with you."

Anna rolled her eyes. "I'm serious."

"She's out with the sheep." Albert pointed at a spot on the page in front of him. "Did you know this thing forbids women to speak while in church?"

She cocked her head. "What are you reading?"

It was a rare moment when _Albert_ was the one putting on the Judging You face. "_The Bible_."

"Oh. I'm damned to Hell then."

"I think marrying me sealed that deal."

"Rats," Anna said. "That's just too bad." She walked over to the table and frowned down at the bowl in the center. "Does good food even exist? Not out here," she mouthed her husband's words of answer and smiled. "Not in the West. I'm going to find Kace. I think today would be a good day to just relax and bond with her, you know? Plus I don't think she slept well last night, I kept hearing movement."

"Anna." Albert put the bible down on the table and stood up. "I think it may be too soon. She just got here, she's terrified, she..." he shook his head. "We have to let her trust us before we try to push. Otherwise she might shut down."

"How do we let her trust us if we don't talk to her and try to make her feel better, Albert?" Anna put her hands on her hips. "We can't just feed her and not engage. She's not a wild animal that we're trying to get to come close enough to us to shoot."

"Close enough for you to shoot or close enough for me to shoot?"

Anna rolled her eyes, trying to ignore his smirk but returning it with one of her own. "Stop it. I'm going to go talk to her."

* * *

If she could find her. Five thousand sheep spread around the small house almost as far as could be seen, in widely ranged density, and Kace's little head was nowhere to be seen above all their backs. Anna shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand, scanning the herd. "Kace?"

Nothing.

_Shit._ Anna jogged forward, not having any idea if she was going in the right direction but feeling anxious being so close to the house. "Kace!"

A few sheep, mostly the younger ones, lifted their heads and regarded her curiously. The majority ignored her and kept sniffing the ground for something to eat.

_Why would she run_? Anna wondered. Had they intimidated her? Was there more to this story of her family's deaths that they didn't know? Was she running for her life?

Anna shook her head. Albert had seen her go outside. It wasn't long enough ago for her to have covered a lot of ground, unless...

Anna glanced back toward the house. Both Hickok and Curtis were dozing at their post. She couldn't have gone far.

Anna waded through the throngs of sheep, looking for anything unusual. At first, everything appeared normal, and then she spotted a gap about a hundred yards away. Frowning, she pushed past the animals and made her way to the gap, stopping at the edge of it.

The space that appeared to have no sheep actually had three – all lambs. They were laying in the dirt, stretched out, soaking up the sun. Between two of them lay Kace. She was on her side, clutching Ears, her nose near the nose of one of the lambs, the head and neck of another lamb resting on her hip. She was smiling, peering at the sheep in front of her through barely opened eyes.

Anna stopped, dropping her head and tipping it to the side as she watched. After a moment or two, the girl noticed her presence and lifted her head in alarm.

"I..." Anna cleared her throat. "I just wondered if you were hungry. There is food inside, come when you're ready. Okay?"

Kace nodded, smiling at Anna, then dropped her head to the earth again. The lamb stretched its neck out and bumped its nose against hers, and she giggled.

"You may be right," Anna said upon returning to the house. "I think she needs to be alone for now." She sat down in the chair that used to belong to his mother. "I wish there was a way to get through to her. I've never really been around kids, not since I was one."

"You know," Albert said, "I really, _really _hate to say this...but I know someone who might be able to help."


	7. Chapter 7

It didn't surprise Albert when the person on the other side of the door looked like he was the last person that she expected to show up there. "Albert?" she said with confusion.

"Uh, yeah, hi Louise," he stammered. "Listen, I have a question for you..."

"Is this about the little girl from the stagecoach fire?" She asked, always matter of fact.

"Yeah," he said. "Anna and I...we're not exactly..."

"Good with kids?" She gave a small smile. He remembered when that little smile would have had him walking on air for days – it wasn't like that now, but even as a no longer biased observer, she _did_ have nice smile. "Shocker."

"Would you be able to help us?"

She thought it over a moment. "Bring her down to the school tomorrow, I'll see what she knows, and back when I was in Aubrey Landing, I knew some of the local laws that they used to determine custody cases in a case like this. Usually both of the would be parents write an appeal letter to the local law enforcement and there's some sort of hearing. It shouldn't be a problem unless one of prospective parents doesn't fulfill their obligations or if there's a challenge. But I mean, no one else wants that girl, right?"

"Just some sleazy old men."

Louise wrinkled her nose. "Bring her by the school tomorrow after noon. And Foy left town before Hillenbrand could pay him the money he owed...so now he kinda owes me, you know? I'll get some information for you."

"Thanks, Louise," Albert said. "Really, thank you."

* * *

Albert entered the cabin to see Anna and Kace sitting on the floor, broken pieces of glass sheep laying around them. Albert recognized the remnants as a little statuette he'd broken and tossed into a box when he was upset about Louise a year ago. "What's going on?"

"Thought it'd be a little mind stimulation," Anna said. "Putting it back together. Like a puzzle but not flat."

"Oh yeah, three dimensional."

Kace looked up. "It's hard but we're almost done."

"Good," Albert said. "Hey, Anna and I are going to go into our room and talk for a second, you can finish the sheep by yourself?"

The girl nodded. Anna rose, following Albert into the bedroom. "What did Louise say?"

"Shouldn't be a problem," Albert said. "We just each have to write letters stating we want to adopt her and the town's government will vote on whether or not we can take her, since, I don't know, she's in the custody of the town right now techincally..."

"Hold up hold up," Anna said, blinking rapidly. "We have to write letters?"

"Yeah, I mean, nothing long, just that we want to adopt her and why we think we'll be taking good care of her...I'm sure it works differently in other states or in more urbanized areas but the law isn't super enforced out here so..."

"We both have to?"

Albert stopped, cocking his head slightly. "Anna...Anna do..."

She folded her arms. "No, Albert, I don't know how to write."

His jaw unhinged. "You...how?"

"When was I going to learn?" she said. "My parents taught me my name so I could sign my wedding certificate, and that's the same childish signature I scrawled on ours. I can't write a letter! I write letters like you used to shoot guns!"

"Shit," Albert said.

"Is there any way only you can write one?"

"I...I'd have to ask Louise but I don't think so," he said. "Oh gosh. This could actually be a problem."

"No," Anna said firmly. "No, I won't let this be why she ends up with one of those disgusting men." She put a hand firmly on Albert's chest. "You're going to teach me."

* * *

**Since the movie focused on Albert being taught something he was useless at to Anna, I wanted to reverse that concept for this fic. Let me know what you think!**


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